Chapter 1402: Too Rich
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Chapter 1400: Too Rich
Mo Hua took Xiao Ju along as they left the small courtyard, passed through picturesque mountains and waters, and—amid flocks of immortal cranes and colorful luan birds—used True-Person Rong’s token to open the mountain gate and step out of the Little Luan Mountain Blessed Land.
Outside the minor blessed land lay the vast world.
Once again, Mo Hua set foot on the soil of Kun Province.
A so-called “Blessed Land” was a place isolated from the world—containing its own pocket realm miniature world, forming its own landscapes, sustained by artificially constructed formations that revived spiritual energy.
Although Little Luan Mountain Blessed Land was located within Kun Province, its terrain and environment were in fact entirely different from Kun Province itself.
While inside the blessed land, Mo Hua’s perception of heaven and earth had been somewhat cut off due to its secluded nature.
Now that he had left and stepped onto Kun Province’s soil, he once again felt a resonance with heaven and earth.
Moreover, his injuries had improved, and his divine sense had recovered. His perception of Kun Province’s earthly aura was now much stronger than before.
At this very moment, the Dao essence of the earth lay beneath his feet—an endless vitality nourishing all living things upon it.
Mo Hua felt as though every pore of his body was being nourished by the earth, giving him an indescribable sense of profound generosity and gentle warmth.
The earth’s nature is receptive, bearing all things with abundant virtue.
Perhaps this was the “virtue” of the earth—its ability to carry and nurture all things—an expression of a broader and more profound Dao.
Mo Hua stood there, lost in thought, until he felt a small hand patting him. Turning his head, he saw Xiao Ju looking at him with with a puzzled expression, asking.
“Is your illness not fully healed yet? Why are you spacing out the moment we step outside?”
Xiao Ju had also participated in Mo Hua’s treatment. Many of the medicinal herbs used in alchemy had been personally gathered by her.
Thus, she knew well that Mo Hua’s injuries had been severe, especially the damage to his divine sense, which was the hardest to recover from.
Once Divine-Sense injuries fail to heal properly, they can flare up from time to time, causing strange and incomprehensible behavior.
Looking at Mo Hua, she couldn’t help but feel worried.
Of course, her worry wasn’t for Mo Hua himself, but rather for her oranges.
After all, the orange trees had been planted by Mo Hua. If something went wrong with his brain and the tree had issues, she wouldn’t even know who to turn to.
Mo Hua smiled faintly. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Oh…” Xiao Ju nodded.
Afterward, Mo Hua led Xiao Ju along the mountain path outside the blessed land.
After walking for a while, Mo Hua could still sense a faint, cold, and hidden killing intent lingering within causality.
Within that killing intent was a deep jealousy.
Although it was much weaker than before, it still clung to him like maggots to bone.
Clearly, his troublemaking Little Senior Sister was an untouchable “taboo.” Whoever stayed by her side would have to bear the karmic resentment tied to her.
Mo Hua sighed softly.
This kind of killing intent didn’t frighten him—after all, he had encountered far more terrifying demons, evil spirits, and even malevolent evil gods within causality.
But these two kinds of danger were not entirely the same.
It seemed his days ahead wouldn’t be peaceful.
Thinking this, Mo Hua suddenly looked at Xiao Ju, finding it strange.
He had only been by his Little Senior Sister’s side for two or three months and had already drawn so much resentment. What about Xiao Ju then?
This little girl had undoubtedly been with his little senior sister for much longer.
Was she completely unaffected?
No… or rather, the fact that she could remain by his Little Senior Sister’s side and serve her closely already meant she was no ordinary person.
Mo Hua’s gaze grew deeper.
As Xiao Ju walked, she suddenly shivered and immediately turned to look at him, frowning.
“Why are you staring at me?”
Mo Hua pondered for a moment. “Xiao Ju… were you picked up by Little Senior Sister?”
Xiao Ju was furious. “You’re the one who was picked up!”
“If you’re not a maid, then… a Dao attendant?” Mo Hua asked.
In the cultivation world, major clans and sects often assigned maids and servants to their direct descendants for errands.
However, cultivators, after all, still possessed a certain purity of heart. Some disliked worldly disturbances and had no desire to oppress others.
Especially among certain noble clans and cultivators of upright dispositions, they preferred not to have maids or servants, opting instead for book attendants or Dao attendants to accompany them.
The status of book attendants and Dao attendants was much higher—especially Dao attendant. Even direct descendants of major clans would sometimes serve as Dao attendant in their youth, attending powerful elders or ancestors.
Mo Hua remembered that when he was at the Great Void Sect, there had been several Dao attendants around Old Mister Xun, and he had gotten along quite well with them. Occasionally, they even shared bits of gossip with him.
If Xiao Ju wasn’t a maid—and given his little senior sister’s temperament, she certainly wouldn’t want any maids—then she was most likely a Dao attendant.
Xiao Ju muttered, “At least you’re not stupid…”
Mo Hua was still surprised. “You actually managed to become Little Senior Sister’s Dao attendant?”
Xiao Ju puffed up proudly. “I fought hard for it!”
“Fought for it?” Mo Hua was taken aback.
With a serious expression, Xiao Ju recalled the past, her eyes even burning with a fierce fighting spirit:
“You have no idea how many girls from great clans and sects wanted to stay by Sister Zixi’s side and become her Dao attendant…”
“And there could only be one!”
Her gaze was firm. “To become that one person, I cultivated hard, endured countless hardships, defeated so many ‘strong enemies.’ Only then did I gain the fortune of being chosen by Sister Zixi, to attend to her daily life…”
“Even now, thinking about it, it still feels like a dream…”
“You could even say that reaching this point, I have no regrets left in this life…”
A sacred glow seemed to shine upon Xiao Ju’s face.
Mo Hua sighed helplessly. “You just became a Dao attendant, why does it sound like you ascended to immortality?”
Xiao Ju snorted. “You don’t understand. To me, being by Sister Zixi’s side is ascending to immortality.”
Mo Hua sighed. “Alright, fine.”
Then he asked, “Staying by her side all the time… aren’t you affected?”
He remembered that when his Little Senior Sister was young, she had told him her bloodline was somewhat special.
From the current situation, it seemed it wasn’t just a little special, it was frighteningly so…
Xiao Ju nodded. “It does affect me. But Sister Zixi instructed that I can’t stay by her side for more than an hour a day in total. As long as I don’t stay too long, it’s fine. Otherwise, even I wouldn’t be able to endure it… it would affect my mind.”
Hearing this, Mo Hua’s pupils contracted slightly.
Xiao Ju spoke lightly, but upon closer thought, it meant she had a certain level of “resistance” to his Little Senior Sister’s bloodline power.
And being able to resist it to some extent implied…
Xiao Ju’s own bloodline was likely no ordinary one either.
Mo Hua looked at Xiao Ju, frowning deeply.
Xiao Ju became alert again, turning to him with displeasure. “Why are you staring at me? Are you trying to trick me?”
Mo Hua was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I just think… Xiao Ju might actually be quite formidable.”
Xiao Ju nodded proudly. “You’ve got good eyes. Lord Xiao Ju is indeed very formidable!”
As the two chatted, a bustling noise suddenly reached their ears. Looking up, they saw towering golden buildings ahead, a scene of great prosperity. They had arrived in Houtu City.
Relying on memory, Mo Hua walked forward, but after only a few steps, Xiao Ju called out to stop him.
“Wrong way, that road leads to the Earth Sect.”
Mo Hua asked, “We’re not going to the Earth Sect?”
Xiao Ju replied, “Didn’t you say you’d help me make the orange tree sprout? Then we need to go to the marketplace. There aren’t many markets near the Earth Sect.”
Mo Hua nodded. “Then which way?”
Xiao Ju pointed in the opposite direction. “That way. Follow me.”
With that, she slung her storage bag over her shoulder and walked ahead, leading the way while explaining:
“Houtu City is huge—so huge that one city practically covers an entire prefecture.”
“The central city belongs to the Earth Sect. Beyond that, there are the east, west, south, and north districts. Each district is enormous and has powerful clans stationed there. The roads are complicated, and there are all kinds of buildings everywhere. If you don’t know your way, it’s very easy to get lost…”
Xiao Ju chattered on.
Mo Hua nodded, committing it all to memory.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a massive city gate. Passing through it, another vast district unfolded before them.
Within the district stood magnificent jade-like palaces and golden buildings stretching endlessly like an ocean.
Some parts of the ground were even paved with spirit stones, emitting a faint blue glow.
People dressed in gold and silver were everywhere, exuding wealth.
Even the lanterns on carriages were made of jade, and the curtains were woven from golden threads.
The crowds surged like weaving shuttles, and the traffic flowed endlessly. In motion, it resembled a long river of “flowing gold and cascading jade,” winding along the streets into the distance.
Even though it wasn’t his first time seeing such a scene, Mo Hua still couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
Kun Province… this ridiculous place… was simply too rich.
Not just “rich to the point of dripping oil,” but rich to the point of dripping gold…
[TN: 富得流油 is a common Chinese idiom meaning extremely wealthy (as if cooking oil drips from their food — a sign of prosperity in poor times)].
How could it possibly be this rich…
Mo Hua shook his head.
Afterward, he and Xiao Ju blended into the crowd and followed the street toward the distant marketplace.
But the road was too long. After walking for quite some time without arriving, noon came, and Mo Hua began to feel hungry. Wanting to eat something, he asked Xiao Ju:
“What do you want to eat?”
Xiao Ju looked around, then pointed at a noodle shop. “That.”
Mo Hua was a bit surprised. “Just noodles?”
From her demeanor, he had thought she was the type of young lady who demanded only the finest delicacies.
But Xiao Ju said, “When you’re out, keep things simple. Eat quickly, then head back to tend the orange trees, and I still have to take care of Sister Zixi.”
Her purpose was very clear.
Mo Hua nodded, and the two of them entered the noodle shop. Each ordered a bowl of noodles. When it came time to pay, the owner said:
“One bowl is one hundred spirit stones. Two bowls total two hundred.”
Even Mo Hua froze for a moment.
He extended his chopsticks, stirred the meager noodles in the bowl, and thought of the two paper-thin slices of meat he had just eaten, saying in disbelief:
“One hundred spirit stones?”
Back in Tōngxiān City, this kind of noodles wouldn’t even cost a single spirit stone.
Even in the Qianxue Prefecture, it wouldn’t exceed ten.
But here in Kun Province… it actually cost one hundred?
It wasn’t like Mo Hua had never seen spirit stones. From Qianxue Prefecture to the Desolate Wilderness, the number of spirit stones that had passed through his hands numbered in the millions, if not hundreds of millions.
But even so, he had never imagined it would be this outrageous.
Mo Hua said, “Are your noodles made of gold?”
The shop owner replied, “That’s just the price. Fair and square, same for everyone. Mine are already considered cheap…”
Seeing Mo Hua’s “uncultured bumpkin” reaction, Xiao Ju calmly said, “That’s just how Kun Province is. Don’t tell me you don’t even have two hundred spirit stones?”
The shop owner looked at Xiao Ju, then at Mo Hua, and said with a hint of disdain:
“Exactly. So young, already this poor, and you’re even raising a daughter?”
Xiao Ju nodded absentmindedly, only realizing a moment later who he meant by “daughter.” Instantly furious, she slammed the table into pieces with one palm and leapt up, nearly flipping the entire noodle shop over.
Mo Hua barely managed to hold her back, then painfully paid the two hundred spirit stones.
The owner originally wanted Mo Hua to compensate for the broken table, but seeing Xiao Ju’s fierce expression, he grew afraid and ultimately didn’t dare say anything.
After leaving the noodle shop, Xiao Ju was still fuming along the way.
Mo Hua tried to console her. “Forget it. That owner is narrow-minded. No need to argue with him.”
Xiao Ju was still angry. “Blind fool! That noodle shop will go bankrupt sooner or later!”
Mo Hua said, “It’s getting late. Let’s hurry and find the marketplace. Buying formation materials or spiritual liquid to nurture the orange trees is more important.”
At the mention of orange trees, Xiao Ju was immediately distracted. But after looking at Mo Hua, she grew suspicious again.
“Do you even have spirit stones to buy formations and spiritual liquid?”
Mo Hua didn’t seem like someone with spirit stones. Moreover, Xiao Ju knew that when Mo Hua first arrived at Little Luan Mountain Blessed Land, he was completely penniless, not even a single storage bag.
All this time, everything he ate, wore, and used—including the pills he consumed—had been provided by True Person Rong, or rather, by Sister Zixi.
Now, even a bowl of noodles costing one hundred spirit stones seemed expensive to him.
Could he really have spirit stones to buy formations and spiritual liquid?
Mo Hua indeed didn’t have many spirit stones on hand. The little extra he had was given by his Little Senior Sister for cultivation.
Mo Hua quietly glanced at Xiao Ju’s storage bag.
Startled, Xiao Ju quickly clutched it tightly. “Don’t even think about my private savings!”
Although she wasn’t lacking in spirit stones, that only applied to cultivation resources.
All disciples from major aristocratic clans and sects, especially those with strict upbringing, might not lack resources for food, clothing, and cultivation, but their extra “allowance” was given very sparingly.
Spirit stones for cultivation, even if they amounted to millions or tens of millions, were considered necessary.
Because those were meant to improve one’s realm and strength, directly tied to a disciple’s Dao path and the clan’s future. No amount was too much.
But if too many spirit stones were given for daily spending, it would inevitably encourage extravagance and indulgence, even corrupting one’s character step by step, leading to gradual decline.
Thus, most clan disciples, while not lacking spirit stones, also didn’t truly have much to squander.
Unless they were wastrels—spoiled by elders, uninterested in cultivation, and focused only on pleasure.
Xiao Ju didn’t lack spirit stones in her daily life, but those were all accounted for openly.
Privately, she still secretly saved a bit of her own money to buy things True Person Rong wouldn’t allow her to purchase.
These private savings were practically “gray income” and extremely precious.
Xiao Ju clutched her storage bag even tighter.
But then she remembered that the orange tree Mo Hua planted was for her, and the oranges that grew from it were also for her to eat.
If that was the case, making Mo Hua spend Spirit stones on the formation and spiritual liquid for planting the orange tree would indeed be a bit unfair.
Xiao Ju frowned and gritted her teeth, enduring the pain as she said:
“I… I can give you a little. But not too much… at most… at most ten… twenty thousand…”
In her heart, Xiao Ju painfully weighed how many spirit stones she should “contribute.”
Mo Hua couldn’t help but smile at her expression and said, “It’s fine. I actually have plenty of spirit stones.”
Xiao Ju was taken aback and asked doubtfully, “Really?”
If you had plenty of spirit stones, would you think a bowl of noodles costing a hundred spirit stones was expensive?
Mo Hua didn’t explain, only smiled calmly. “Lead the way. Once we reach the marketplace, you’ll understand.”
Xiao Ju didn’t quite get it, but she nodded anyway.
After that, she led Mo Hua along the streets for another half an hour, arriving at a large marketplace district.
There were many markets here, numerous stalls set up by ordinary cultivators, as well as some tall and magnificent merchant pavilions.
Xiao Ju pulled Mo Hua, wanting to go to the ordinary stalls where things were cheap and sometimes you could snag a bargain.
But Mo Hua shook his head. “Find a big merchant pavilion.”
Xiao Ju was taken aback, thinking to herself: Is this guy really putting on airs like a rich tycoon now?
Still, she brought Mo Hua to the most prosperous commercial street in the entire marketplace. Everywhere they looked were towering buildings and dazzling, gold-plated decorations.
Mo Hua rubbed his fingers, his mind stirring slightly, and walked straight toward the largest and most lavish merchant pavilion among them.
Above its entrance hung a plaque, with two large characters cast entirely in pure gold:
“Fortune Pavilion.”